You will not get 50 MPG if...

deltron3030 · 10-31-2009, 03:32 PM

I live in LA. driving cautiously, I can easily get @ 50mpg. Driving like everyone else on the road (without going too nuts) I get about 48mpg.
Averaging about 9 gallons per re-fuel, thats about 18 miles a tank that I'm saving by driving very cautiously (aka slow). This means, every 2.7 fill ups I'm losing one gallon of otherwise saved fuel.
If gas is $3.00 a gallon, I stand to lose about $1.11 per fill up. Further, this means about $56 dollars a year (assuming 50 fill ups). Compare that to the amount a coffee drinking person spends on coffee per year (I dont drink coffee). All in all, that's not really a whole lot (at least for me it isn't) of savings versus how careful i have to be to save $1.11 per every 430+ miles I get out of my tank. There are practical ways to keep mpg up, but at the end of the day, there's a trade off in FE effort that will or wont make financial sense depending on your situation. For me, trying for 50+mpg is mostly for the fun of it, but I'm not the least bit bothered by 48mpg.

windstrings · 10-31-2009, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gohybrid

I've only had mine for about a week, but i'm always in ECO mode, I never stray into PWR unless it's absolutely necessary to get up a hill or to pull out into busy traffic.

Welcome to the forum!
Shouldn't have to play with you buttons in a pinch... whenever you push over 80% into the pedal... all points converge into power mode anyway... so don't feel like you have less power in you get into trouble... it may not respond quite as fast, but its there.

gohybrid · 10-31-2009, 08:46 PM

Thanks! I took it out for another drive today - my average is now 53.5mpg. I understand there is some margin of error in that, so I'm probably not quite up to a "true" 50mpg, but getting quite close anyway.

I don't actually push the PWR button... i was trying to refer to the PWR zone of the HSI. HSI was the new acronym I learned today

. I was actually quite shocked by the power the car has when you goose it. I had to pull out into traffic on a busy street, everyone's doing 50mph. This thing has some unexpected zip!

Still, my wife is on me about how slow I drive now. I told her my Formula 1 dreams ended when I traded in my Civic Si

windstrings · 10-31-2009, 08:54 PM

There is a line you have to draw in the sand IMO.

As with anything... your car needs to serve you and not you serve the car.

Based on what "service" you need from your car will determine how you apply that.

Its like the speed limit... they say "if we drop from 55 to 50, we can save X amount of lives... but based on that premise, we could drop it to 5mph and save much more!.. Heck, we could just all walk and save much more!....... so everything has to be weighed to determine the best of two evils or the worst of two goods.

gohybrid · 10-31-2009, 10:13 PM

You're right - and obviously there isn't a linear relationship between speed and economy, or speed and safety. There's a relatively flat, sweet spot that serves all of those variables equally well.

I also seem to have some very different expectations for service from the Prius than I did from the Si.

I think the two cars are just the two extremes of that range of values that yields the best speed, economy, and safety. Just have to get her to see it that way too!

windstrings · 10-31-2009, 11:31 PM

I pretty much don't hold back if I need to or want power, but I also don't put my foot into it any more than I really need. Right now I"m getting about 56mpg.... no recent freeway driving but lots of backwoods rural driving and in town.

deltron3030 · 11-01-2009, 12:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by windstrings

I pretty much don't hold back if I need to or want power, but I also don't put my foot into it any more than I really need. Right now I"m getting about 56mpg.... no recent freeway driving but lots of backwoods rural driving and in town.

as much as i "don't care" about the small gains i notice between conservative and normal driving, i do have a bit of envy for you all who find your normal driving gets you in the 56mpg region. LA is hills, and any flatland is a cause for the flow of traffic to stay around 70mph, unless, its 0pmh in traffic.

royrose · 11-01-2009, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deltron3030

I live in LA. driving cautiously, I can easily get @ 50mpg. Driving like everyone else on the road (without going too nuts) I get about 48mpg.
Averaging about 9 gallons per re-fuel, thats about 18 miles a tank that I'm saving by driving very cautiously (aka slow). This means, every 2.7 fill ups I'm losing one gallon of otherwise saved fuel.
If gas is $3.00 a gallon, I stand to lose about $1.11 per fill up. Further, this means about $56 dollars a year (assuming 50 fill ups). Compare that to the amount a coffee drinking person spends on coffee per year (I dont drink coffee). All in all, that's not really a whole lot (at least for me it isn't) of savings versus how careful i have to be to save $1.11 per every 430+ miles I get out of my tank. There are practical ways to keep mpg up, but at the end of the day, there's a trade off in FE effort that will or wont make financial sense depending on your situation. For me, trying for 50+mpg is mostly for the fun of it, but I'm not the least bit bothered by 48mpg.

Your post is right on. There is a law of diminishing returns. If your last car got 25 mpg, you have cut you gas costs in half. To cut in half again you would have to get 100 mpg, and that would only save you half of the remaining half.

Thus making an effort to get 50 or more is for fun and bragging rights.

deltron3030 · 11-01-2009, 11:41 AM

I drove a 98 a ford expedition for 10 years before i bought my prius. was seeing about 11 mpg. The truck was helpful at times, and a burden most of the rest. I'm now getting approx. 450% better milage than I used to.

DaveinOlyWA · 11-01-2009, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by royrose

Your post is right on. There is a law of diminishing returns. If your last car got 25 mpg, you have cut you gas costs in half. To cut in half again you would have to get 100 mpg, and that would only save you half of the remaining half.

Thus making an effort to get 50 or more is for fun and bragging rights.

true, true and its all relative. facts are, its simply EASY to get 50+ mpg in certain areas and being from the same general area is no guarantee you will do as well as your PC neighbor.

case in point. where i lived previously was next to water less than 200 yards from the very southern tip of Puget Sound which basically meant i lived on the side of a pretty steep hill sloping towards the water.

then i moved about 5 miles south. worked same place so last part of commute was the same, but the trip is nearly flat. averaging about 60 mpg on RT commutes.

well from the place near the water, my average commute was only about 54 mpg and the reason?? was that steep hill the last 6 blocks to my house. i would get about 62 mpg going to work in the morning which was steep downhill, very gradual uphill. then 50 mpg coming home.

so you see, one's 50 mpg could be a great figure or barely acceptable. just all depends on where they drive and what conditions.

10-31-2009, 03:32 PM	#81
deltron3030 Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Lakewood, CA Posts: 77 My Car: 2010 Prius Model: II Package: Base Thanks: 0 Thanked 11 Times in 7 Posts Friends: 0	Re: You will not get 50 MPG if... I live in LA. driving cautiously, I can easily get @ 50mpg. Driving like everyone else on the road (without going too nuts) I get about 48mpg. Averaging about 9 gallons per re-fuel, thats about 18 miles a tank that I'm saving by driving very cautiously (aka slow). This means, every 2.7 fill ups I'm losing one gallon of otherwise saved fuel. If gas is $3.00 a gallon, I stand to lose about $1.11 per fill up. Further, this means about $56 dollars a year (assuming 50 fill ups). Compare that to the amount a coffee drinking person spends on coffee per year (I dont drink coffee). All in all, that's not really a whole lot (at least for me it isn't) of savings versus how careful i have to be to save $1.11 per every 430+ miles I get out of my tank. There are practical ways to keep mpg up, but at the end of the day, there's a trade off in FE effort that will or wont make financial sense depending on your situation. For me, trying for 50+mpg is mostly for the fun of it, but I'm not the least bit bothered by 48mpg. Last edited by deltron3030; 10-31-2009 at 03:35 PM.

10-31-2009, 08:46 PM	#83
gohybrid Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: colorado Posts: 13 My Car: 2010 Prius Model: III Package: Solar Roof Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Friends: 0	Re: You will not get 50 MPG if... Thanks! I took it out for another drive today - my average is now 53.5mpg. I understand there is some margin of error in that, so I'm probably not quite up to a "true" 50mpg, but getting quite close anyway. I don't actually push the PWR button... i was trying to refer to the PWR zone of the HSI. HSI was the new acronym I learned today . I was actually quite shocked by the power the car has when you goose it. I had to pull out into traffic on a busy street, everyone's doing 50mph. This thing has some unexpected zip! Still, my wife is on me about how slow I drive now. I told her my Formula 1 dreams ended when I traded in my Civic Si

10-31-2009, 08:54 PM	#84
windstrings Certified Prius Breeder Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Central Texas Posts: 5,304 My Car: 2010 Prius Model: IV Package: Solar Roof Thanks: 2 Thanked 81 Times in 68 Posts Friends: 4	Re: You will not get 50 MPG if... There is a line you have to draw in the sand IMO. As with anything... your car needs to serve you and not you serve the car. Based on what "service" you need from your car will determine how you apply that. Its like the speed limit... they say "if we drop from 55 to 50, we can save X amount of lives... but based on that premise, we could drop it to 5mph and save much more!.. Heck, we could just all walk and save much more!....... so everything has to be weighed to determine the best of two evils or the worst of two goods. __________________ Alan ________________________ 2010 Blue Ribbon Metallic IV with Bisque leather...."My Blue Baby" And my "other" cars...... 2006 Barcelona Red Prius Pkg #8 with Bisque leather.... Yea Baby, Yea! "The Hot Tamale" 2006 Silver Pine Mica Pkg#8 with Bisque leather.... "The Mint Julip" 2006 Mods so far: 1. Coastal EV switch 2. BT stiffening Plate 3.Zaino "the works" 4. Heat Shield "from Canvas Works" 5. Magnetic Oil plugs - Yes they work and you want them! 6. Speed sensor now switched!

10-31-2009, 10:13 PM	#85
gohybrid Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: colorado Posts: 13 My Car: 2010 Prius Model: III Package: Solar Roof Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Friends: 0	Re: You will not get 50 MPG if... You're right - and obviously there isn't a linear relationship between speed and economy, or speed and safety. There's a relatively flat, sweet spot that serves all of those variables equally well. I also seem to have some very different expectations for service from the Prius than I did from the Si. I think the two cars are just the two extremes of that range of values that yields the best speed, economy, and safety. Just have to get her to see it that way too!

10-31-2009, 11:31 PM	#86
windstrings Certified Prius Breeder Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Central Texas Posts: 5,304 My Car: 2010 Prius Model: IV Package: Solar Roof Thanks: 2 Thanked 81 Times in 68 Posts Friends: 4	Re: You will not get 50 MPG if... I pretty much don't hold back if I need to or want power, but I also don't put my foot into it any more than I really need. Right now I"m getting about 56mpg.... no recent freeway driving but lots of backwoods rural driving and in town.

11-01-2009, 11:41 AM	#89
deltron3030 Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Lakewood, CA Posts: 77 My Car: 2010 Prius Model: II Package: Base Thanks: 0 Thanked 11 Times in 7 Posts Friends: 0	Re: You will not get 50 MPG if... I drove a 98 a ford expedition for 10 years before i bought my prius. was seeing about 11 mpg. The truck was helpful at times, and a burden most of the rest. I'm now getting approx. 450% better milage than I used to. Last edited by deltron3030; 11-01-2009 at 11:43 AM.